Learn With League Update

Learn With League Update

August 20th, 2019|

About Learn with League

Riot Games is the developer and publisher of League of Legends, one of the world’s most-played PC games. League of Legends is a co-operative five-a-side online team game that offers learning opportunities for young people in teamwork, online behaviour, and emotional management. In 2016, Riot created the Learn with League initiative to formalise the network of schools in Australia who are integrating League of Legends clubs into their extracurricular offerings. The Learn with League initiative was formed with the belief that young people, when given support and structure from teachers and parents, can use online competitive play to support wellbeing and holistic development.

Join Learn with League!

Riot is seeking schools interested in joining the Learn with League initiative by forming clubs and then formally notifying us. This initiative is free-to-join and well established, with over 100 schools in Australia hosting school-based League of Legends competitions in the past 12 months. For schools with existing League of Legends clubs that have not yet formally registered, Riot is urging schools to inquire about the process for joining Learn with League.

A New Study

Riot is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS) – a consortium-model think tank specialising in social cohesion and community resilience. Under the new partnership, Riot will team up with internationally recognised researchers from CRIS based at Western Sydney University and Deakin University to conduct a formal study later this year. The study aims to determine how school-based online gaming clubs might support young people’s wellbeing and holistic development.

The study will be independently administered by Western Sydney and Deakin, as part of their involvement in the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies’ research and program stream on ‘young people, diversity, wellbeing and the digital age’. This stream seeks to forge solutions to problems caused by social polarisation and racism, and other issues young people face in the digital age.

The study will be conducted by an experienced team of researchers with expertise in social and cultural research, youth studies and online gaming, who will use research methods such as interviews, focus groups, diaries and surveys to understand how participation in online gaming clubs impacts their wellbeing and development. The project team will deliver its findings through a publicly-accessible report and a range of other outputs in youth-friendly formats.

Once the study obtains necessary approvals from Departments of Education in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, and the universities’ ethics committees, schools with a registered Learn with League club will be invited to participate.

Participation in the research will be entirely voluntary. Schools that sign onto the Learn with League initiative and students who participate in a club will need to opt-in to the research, and will be able to withdraw at any time.

League of Legends is a co-operative five-a-side team game with potent learning opportunities for young people in integrity, online behaviour and emotional management. Similar to traditional team sports such as soccer, hockey and rugby, League of Legends is an invasive game that ebbs and flows with the state of play.

Teams of five control champions, each with their own unique designs and abilities, and work together to take down the opposing team’s base. With over 140 different champions and countless customisations available, no two League of Legends games are ever the same.

League of Legends is the most-played PC game in the world with tens of millions of active players playing in more than 30 languages, in more than 180 countries. It is also a driver of the explosive growth of esports, with more than 13 regional leagues fielding over 100 teams and supporting more than 1,000 professional esports players.

About Learn with League

The League of Legends learning initiative (learnwithleague.com) is designed to connect with young people on their digital journeys and equip them with critical life skills. Through participation in this initiative, young people build strategies for looking after their mental health, preventing and responding to bullying, and demonstrating appropriate online behaviour. The initiative brings young people together through authentic and natural experiences in a game they already enjoy, creating teachable moments, both at school and in the home, in areas like self-regulation, healthy balance and team-based communication.

About the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies

The Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS) is a newly established independent think-tank consortium of eight Australian and international academic, community and industry partners. The core partners in this collaborative initiative are Deakin University, Western Sydney University, Victoria University, Resilience Research Centre—Dalhousie University (Canada), Australian Multicultural Foundation, Centre for Multicultural Youth, RAND Australia and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (UK). CRIS has received seed funding from the Victorian Government and significant funding and in-kind support from partner institutions.

This 5-year research and program-based think tank focuses on developing research that translates into programs and policies to advance and enrich the social cohesion and community resilience of local, national and international communities. CRIS will connect with local, national and international best practice in research and programs to deliver meaningful outcomes. With a special focus on young people, CRIS aims to address or mitigate the challenges posed by social harms including violent extremism, racism and discrimination, and hate-based speech and violence in both face-to-face and digital environments.

About Western Sydney University

Western Sydney University is a world-class university with international reach and a reputation for academic excellence and impact-driven research. Emboldened by a belief in being agile to best serve our community, the University’s location in the heart of Western Sydney – the fastest growing and most dynamic area in the country – is ideal to give students a global perspective and opportunity.

In 2019, Western Sydney University was ranked in the top two per cent of universities worldwide by the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The University continues to strengthen its international profile and research standing, and to build on its innovative work in technology-enhanced learning and teaching. Working closely with our community, the University remains committed to unlocking the potential of our students.

The Institute for Culture and Society researches transformations in culture and society in the context of contemporary global change. It champions collaborative engaged research in the humanities and social sciences for a globalising digital age.

About Deakin University

Deakin University combines excellent research and teaching with a strong focus on strengthening the communities it serves. Deakin is renowned for developing award-winning partnerships with industry, governments, communities, professional associations and other education providers. The organisation’s aims are outlined in the strategic plan ‘LIVE the future’; Learning, Ideas, Value, Experience.

The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI), the institute in which the Deakin researchers are based, is a leading humanities and social sciences research institute whose researchers aim to understand complex social issues associated with globalising processes through innovative, mixed-method multidisciplinary research. With a focus on disseminating research through high-impact channels, engaging in partnerships and supporting high-quality researchers and doctoral students, ADI seeks to contribute to knowledge construction and influence research developments, public debates and policy agendas.